Checking on the Boys
by beckendoof
Summary: Because Melissa Mao cannot sleep, she goes to the med ward to check on her boys. One of them is awake when she comes in. Mao and Weber.


**Checking on the Boys**  
><em>A Full Metal Panic! fanfic<em>

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><p><em>notedisclaimer_: Characters do not belong to me. Story does not take place at any point during canon. I like Mao x Weber but that does not necessarily reflect in this fic.

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><p>.<p>

The digital clock on her bed stand read 3:04 AM and all Melissa Mao could think of doing was stare at it. Sleep refused to descend upon her, no matter how violently she demanded that it come. Picking off targets with an imaginary gun - her version of counting sheep - was not working out so well.

With a grumble, she pushed off her covers and reached for her uniform. Doing up the button on her slacks was a pain; her fingers felt raw from the hours she spent grinding on her nails as she waited outside the infirmary during the surgery. It was a bad habit that she could not avoid when there was something she could not stop worrying about and she had no beer cans within reach to distract her.

Once she was dressed in her fatigues and boots (she didn't bother with a jacket because it was a balmy night) she stepped out into the narrow hallway of the training facility and traced a path that she had often walked until she ended up in front of the medical ward. Flashing her id and an apologetic smile to the woman at the counter, who seemed to be unsurprised by her sudden appearance and nonchalantly waved her in, Mao found the room she wanted and eased herself in as quietly as she could.

The first one she saw was the kid and she surmised that they must have medicated him. He was still except for the slow rise and fall of his chest underneath the thin hospital sheets that covered his body. For Mao, knowing him as well as she did, it was an unusual sight. Souske Sagara was hardly ever still - wait, no, that was not right. He could be very still for missions that required it. What he rarely displayed willingly was vulnerability. He was reliable in that regard, but to some people, it came off as inhuman.

I wish I brought a camera, she thought privately, looking at the peaceful face on the pillow, scarred cheek up. He looked less like a soldier and more like the highschool student he often pretended to be.

Movement from the other bed in the room caught her attention. When she glanced towards Kurz Weber, she found herself arrested by half-lidded blue eyes.

"Mao..?" he slurred, voice thick with drowsiness. "That you?"

For a moment she found herself stuck on a reply.

"Uggh... Huh? I's three in the morning," he said, holding a digital clock to his face. It was the same as the one she had in her room, standard military issue. Kurz yawned. "What'cha doin' out here?" That seemed to break the spell.

"Couldn't sleep so I thought I'd check up on my boys," she said, crossing the room till she was next to his bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Better now that you're here, babe." He gave her a sleepy version of that mushy smile he liked to train on her when he was in a teasing mood. Usually it was an annoying follow up to some perverted remark he'd made and she tended to feel like hitting him rather than smiling back. This time she did the latter as she swept his long bangs aside with one hand. His forehead was hot to the touch.

"Glad to know you find my effervescent presence so useful at this hour, Weber," she said, frowning as she put her other hand on her own forehead to compare their temperatures.

"Effervescent, huh. Didn't know you were into using such big words," he said thoughtfully. "It's kinda hot."

"Oh yeah?" She withdrew her hand and shifted her weight to one leg, hands on hips. "That's not the only thing that's hot around here. You're running a fever, Weber. I'll go get you some water." She remembered seeing a water dispenser outside so she got the water from there. When she was back in the room, she handed him the cup, and as he drank from it, she settled herself down on a nearby stool. From where she sat, she could see, quite clearly, the bound up leg that hung suspended over and parallel to Kurz's bed. A network of tubes and wires hung above him, on him, around him. Some of them monitored his heartbeat, probably.

When she noticed that he was looking at her, she raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"You checkin' me out?"

She rolled her eyes. "Nobody looks good lying on a hospital bed, Weber."

"Hey, I think I'm pulling it off." More than anyone else on the TDD-1, Kurz Weber had the right to say those words. "And you agree, don't you," he said thoughtfully. "Melissa, Melissa. The bandages turn you on, don't they?"

Again, on reflex, eye-rolling followed by a flat tone: "If you weren't in a hospital bed already, I'd put you in one right now."

"Wanna join me? I can make room."

"Wipe that disgusting grin off your face, Blondie," she retorted, though there was less bite in it than usual. She rubbed her temple, leaning back against the wall. "God.. why did I even come up here?"

It was airconditioned in the med ward, but she hadn't noticed it till now. The filter was just above her, whirring monotonously into the silent room. Her head ached from the combination of lack of sleep and Kurz Weber. The draft above her head was making her feel chilly.

"Hey," she said after a spell, wondering at the lack of smart alec response. "You asleep?"

He was awake, the sleep gone from his eyes. Normally, a stupid question like this would have earned her a laugh or a sarcastic response, but the blonde sniper was looking off at some invisible point on the floor.

"Just thinking," he said.

"That's a surprise." A weak joke, but it earned her a chuckle. Kurz wasn't that difficult to get along with; he made it look easy, being friendly and agreeable.

The blue eyes came up again to meet hers, smiling, laughing, dancing; Kurz had very expressive eyes and right now they were telling her, for some reason or another, _It's okay._

What came out of his mouth was, "I'll be fine after a month or something and Sergeant Iron Skull over there will be ready to drive Chidori nuts again in half that time. We're fast healers, you know that. All this advanced technology at out fingertips doesn't hurt our chances either." There was also some confusion in his expression, whether he intended for her to see it or not. "I don't know why you're worried, but don't be. I'm fine. We're fine."

Mao sucked in a breath to steady her nerves, fervently wishing she had a cig on her. Dammit. Must be the hormones acting up but she really shouldn't be acting like this, so emotional just because of something-feelings-that shouldn't be interfering with her work life.

It was unprofessional but...

How could this not be personal? Two of her subordinates in the med ward was work, but these two - that one in front of her, watching her with that puzzled look on his feverish face - weren't just subordinates anymore. The relationship had crossed that line long before any of this happened.

Oh, stop that, Melissa! They aren't even in the intensive care section, for Heaven's sake!

"Melissa?" Her thoughts splintered at the sound of his voice.

"Guess I'm lucky to have such hard-headed subordinates," she said to the unspoken question he posed. Not being subtle there, Weber. It's all over your face. But I got it, I'll pull myself together so I won't be a worry to anyone. "If you manage to get out before you're due, I'll treat you to a beer," she teased.

It worked; the slight tension in between his brows easing away to one of Kurz's more familiar smiles. "I'll hold you to that," he said, warningly, "It won't do you any good bailing on a sick man, sis. Remember that."

"I won't bail if you get better, simple as that." She stood up, the stool scraping back as she did.

The smirk drooped. "Leaving already?"

"I'll be back in the morning."

"Can't you just stay here for the rest of the night? I can totally make room."

"Weber." She stopped at the foot of his bed, giving him the evil eye. "Shut that mouth and get some rest."

They had a small staring match, which he promptly lost. He sighed, and mock saluted. "Urzu-6 hears and obeys. Night, Sis."

"Night, Kurz." He was settling into his pillow when she shut the door from the med ward hallway. "I'll be here in the morning, no sweat," she murmured to the door knob.

She was, and so were they.

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><p>end<p>

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><p>thank you for reading!<p> 


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